


A Safe Place

by Veldeia



Series: Captain America/Iron Man Bingo 2016 [5]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Fluff, Gen, Platonic Cuddling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-31
Updated: 2016-07-31
Packaged: 2018-07-28 09:50:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7635640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Veldeia/pseuds/Veldeia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony is de-aged, and Steve is there for him—both during and after the ordeal.</p><p>Fill for Cap-IM TRB 2016: Golden, and a bingo fill for the prompt "cuddling".</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Safe Place

**Author's Note:**

> This story was inspired by [nim-lock's](http://nim-lock.tumblr.com) adorably cute [art](http://capim-tinybang.tumblr.com/post/148194260462/title-long-day-artist-nim-lock-link-to-tumblr-x)!

“You'll figure it out, Tony. I'm sure you will,” Steve said.

“What if I don't?” Tony said, his high-pitched, childish voice shaking. “What if I'm stuck like this? What if I have to wait for years and years until I grow up? Can I still be Iron Man?”

“We'll get you back to normal, I promise,” Steve reassured him. “Reed will be here in a matter of hours. The two of you geniuses together will solve this in a wink.”

“You can't know that.”

Tony was looking so utterly inconsolable and so very young that it nearly broke Steve's heart: his lower lip was trembling, his eyes huge and glistening with tears, and the way the Captain America hoodie hung on his skinny frame made him look even younger than the twelve or so years Steve thought he'd been de-aged to. He had been working feverishly ever since the battle that had left him in this state, almost ten hours ago. It would've been a long day even for an adult, let alone for a pre-teen.

“I think we should take a break,” Steve decided.

“I took a break just a few hours ago,” Tony said defiantly, rubbing at his eyes, clearly intent on keeping those tears at bay.

“That was three hours ago, and only because you couldn't resist the smell of pizza,” Steve said. “Come on, we can take a nap while we wait for Reed to show up.”

With Tony still muttering in protest, Steve took hold of his hand and led him over to the bed stashed away in one corner of the workshop for exactly this type of a situation. He settled down in it, half seated against the pile of pillows, and pulled Tony onto his lap.

Tony's protests faded away. Instead, he went very quiet, and tense as a bowstring, with slight tremors running through him, like he couldn't allow himself to relax. He wouldn't even sit still, squirming, turning his head, shifting his legs, which was a little uncomfortable for Steve. It was as if Tony was too conscious of where he was, held close to Captain America. Steve wasn't entirely surprised, since he was well aware of how much Tony had doted on him as a boy.

Steve put his right arm around Tony and his left hand on Tony's head, ruffling his hair, trying to steady him and to motion that he could lean on Steve. “It's okay, just close your eyes and rest.”

With one cheek pressed against Steve's chest, Tony finally seemed to calm down a little, the tremors fading away. Steve slid his hands to Tony's back, patting it gently, and to his surprise, Tony spread his arms in something akin to a hug, settling snugly against Steve.

In a few minutes, Tony was fast asleep in Steve's arms, his breathing slow and steady.

  


* * *

  


To say that Steve was amazed to see Tony standing at his doorstep late at night would have been a major understatement. To make matters even more dismaying, Tony looked hauntingly similar to his younger self at his most desperate: lips pursed as if to keep them from trembling, eyes wide and glistening suspiciously.

“Sorry to bother you at such an hour but I saw the lights were still on and I thought,” Tony said, looking uncharacteristically meek, every word an apology.

“Don't worry, it's fine, I was reading,” Steve said reassuringly. “What's on your mind?”

“I just,” Tony began, and stopped again as if tongue-tied, shifting his weight nervously from one foot to the other.

“Whatever it is, I'm here. You could come in and close the door, if you'd like,” Steve suggested.

Not saying another word, his shoulders sagging slightly, Tony did just that. He walked over to Steve's bed and sat down by his feet. There, he rested his elbows on his knees and buried his face in his palms. “It's stupid,” Tony mumbled, the words barely audible.

Steve sat up and moved closer to Tony, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I'm sure it's not, but even if it is, that's okay. Trouble sleeping?”

Tony's back moved with a shuddering breath. “Could say that. I haven't slept. Since I got back to normal,” Tony admitted.

“Tony! It's been three days!” Steve exclaimed.

Not that he was entirely surprised, and not that it was unusual for Tony to go long stretches without sleep, but it raised a pang of guilt and worry nevertheless. Steve should've made sure Tony was all right. The de-aging and re-aging must've been stressful. Tony certainly needed rest after that ordeal.

“I'm well aware,” Tony said glumly, and dropped his hands to his lap. He still didn't face Steve, his eyes on the floor instead. “I can't stop thinking about it. Being a kid brought up a lot of memories. Not very nice ones.”

“If you want to talk about it—” Steve started to say, only to have Tony interrupt him.

He finally aimed a glance at Steve, a look of revulsion. “God, no, I don't, I really don't. The less I think about it the better.”

“Okay, okay,” Steve said quickly. “Let's not think about it, then. If there's anything I can do, I'm here for you.”

“There's something,” Tony said, his voice almost inaudible.

“What's that?” Steve asked, doing his best to sound encouraging, but not too demanding.

“Can you—could you just—hold me? Like you did, when I was—smaller?” Tony stammered, still speaking very softly. Steve had rarely seen him like this, so vulnerable, no bravado, no wit, all defenses down.

“Of course I can,” Steve said, relieved it was something so simple, while simultaneously understanding how that hadn't been easy for Tony to admit. “Come here.”

Steve shifted to lie down on the bed again, and motioned for Tony to follow. Tony did, allowing Steve to pull himself into a hug, with his head pillowed on Steve's chest.

“Like this?” Steve asked.

Tony only hummed in reply, sounding content.

They rested like that, in silence, for several minutes. Tony's head was a heavy weight against Steve's ribs, and his left elbow was digging into Steve's side, but Steve didn't want to move. He thought Tony might've finally fallen asleep and was loath to wake him.

It turned out Tony wasn't sleeping quite yet, though, since he spoke up again, out of the blue. “Your heartbeat is really slow,” he said drowsily.

Steve wasn't sure what to reply to that. “I've been told that's normal for athletes,” he said.

“I'm sure it is.” Tony wrapped his arm around Steve's waist—shifting that sharp elbow, making it much more comfortable for Steve—and snuggled even closer, his ear pressed against Steve's left pectoral. “It's very soothing.”

Steve wondered if that, in particular, had been what this was about, or just the general closeness, but either way, Tony clearly felt safe like this, which was all Steve needed to know.

After another minute of silence, Tony said, “Can I stay here?”

“Sure, as long as you want to,” Steve promised.

He wouldn't dream of telling Tony to leave. Not after how distressed Tony had seemed, especially not after he'd admitted to not having slept in days. There were far worse things than having Tony sleep in his arms. Indeed, he'd be hard-pressed to think of many things that would be nicer.

“All night?” Tony asked, sounding like he couldn't quite believe it.

“As long as you want to,” Steve repeated.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Please Restore Your System to the Time You Last Felt Safe](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9647873) by [vorkosigan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/vorkosigan/pseuds/vorkosigan)




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